Optical glass



March 14, 1939. G, w. MO REY 2,150,694

OPTICALGLASS I Filed Aug. '19, 1956 I 2.05 I I I U I ma J 1/ 1.70 0N r I INVENTOR:

PatentedlMar. 14, 1939 l i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OPTICAL GLASS George W. Morey, Chevy Chase, -Md., or, by mesne assignments, to .Eastman Kodak Company, Jersey City, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey App ication August 19, 1936, Serial No. 96,844

In Great Britain September 3, 1935 R S 15 Claims. (01. ins-36.1

The present invention relates to glasses and the values of and of 11B are reater than the to batches from which they are made and, more lines 11 and The line 1! is drawn through t e particularly, tooptical glasses having unique and P ints flD=1.65) and n =1-8 highly desirable properties. and is defined by t e eq ion At the present time, the available optical Y 5 glasses possessing suitable physical properties are QW primarily silicate glasses with a definitely limited range of optical properties. This is especialg f gg ig gif gfi gg i sfi g g kg i sf ly true of glasses having an index of refraction and is defined by the equation greater than 1.65 and places a limit upon the 10 optical performance which may be secured by /+4nD=99 the lens designer. In these glasses, having a refractive index greater than 1.65 the dispersion These newly discovered glasses are a c.

is a definite function of the index and it'is difil non-silicate, amorphous substances, transparent cult, if not impossible, to attain with these within a useful range and formed by fusion of 15. glasses the degree of correction required for cercertain oxides herein after more definitely specitain exacting lens systems. fied.

It is an object of this invention to provide new When used in the claims the word glass glasses having high refractive indices and means'an inorganic amorphous mass; and the possessing relations between refractivity and disword transparent means capable of transmitpersion different from those of previously known ting useful light without diflusion except that due glasses; and which are of great chemical stabilto refraction. Claims specifying a glass batch ity, notably fluid when molten so that they readare intended to include the elements originally ily rid themselves of all bubbles, hard enough to added, whatever may be their proportion or conwithstand mechanical abrasion and scratching, dition in the resultant glass. 25 capable of taking a high polish, resistant to From earliest times silica has been one of the weather and conditions of use for a prolonged chief ingredients of glass and optical glass at period, and composed of ingredients which are present contains a substantial percentage of essentially non-volatile and stable at temperasilica. The principal exceptions to this statement 1511198 necessary in g glass. are certain glasses formerly manufactured, high Further objects and advantages of this invenin boric oxide and/or phosphoric oxide, whose tion will appear from the following description manufacture has been discontinued because of when read in connection with the accompany g their low chemical stability. These glasses, the drawing, the single figure of which is a diagram compositions of which were entirely diflerent w n the P s Obtained y p gthe disfrom those herein disclosed, did not have very 35 persive ratios of a number of glasses against high indices and were not particularly useful to their refractive indices for the D line (nD) the lens designer. It is generally accepted that In this figure, the points corresponding to the glass is a mixture rather than a compound, and, new glasses here disclosed are designated by capalthough its composition is well known, pract letters, corresponding to t e formulae heretically nothing is known about its constitution. 'inafter n- T c ve it represents the In attempting. to obtain a glass of unique optiformula cal properties and especially a glass having a re- /=3838\/1T5:i. 7 fractive index greater than 1.65 and a unique dispersion, i. e., one which does not follow the and it is tobe noted that the value of the disflint glass trend, it seemedzreasonable to expect 45 persive ratio, V, is in most instances greater than that its composition should be built around the this. These optical propertis are of utility in acid forming elements having relatively high the designing of objectives, and optical systems atomic weights ratherthan silicon whose atomic. and apparatus, weight'is less than 30. I have found by long ex- It is further to be noted that, in every instance, periment that such a glass may indeed be made so 1 and melted at a temperature suficient to melt using the oxides of certain elements, particularly certain of those in the even series, and especially the eighth, in Groups III, IV, V and VI of the periodic table having atomic weights greater than 47. J udicious choice of these elements will result in a composition which is capable of making a glass of high refractive index having a dispersion which is considerably lower than that of available glasses having the same refractive index.

Some of the oxides of the elements having atomic weights greater than 47 in the series and in groups mentioned exclude themselves from practical use for various reasons, particularly their undesirable color absorption, their present rarity or difliculty in obtaining them in commercial quantities or in purified form. However, I do not intend to exclude from my invention glasses whose color absorptions do not detract from their usefulness in certain optical systems. All of the elements in the series mentioned which I have tried have, in certain combinations, formed glasses. Certainof these elements have more than one oxide and in such cases is meant only that oxide having the formula characteristic of the group, namely X for the third group, X0

for the fourth group, X 0 for the fifth group and X0 for the sixth group. Those elements, the oxides of which when fused yield opaque or undesirably colored components are principally those having more than one oxide and it is possible that the color or opacity is due to the breaking down of the oxides and that if the pure oxide of characteristic formula could be obtained and fused without deterioration, it might yield a usable glass.

In general the materials comprising the formula are carefully weighed, screened, well mixed all the ingredients, usually about 2000 to 2500 F. When they are thoroughly melted and mixed, the batch is poured into a container heated to the region of 1000 F. and placed in an annealing oven at a temperature of from 1300 to 1500 F. and slowly cooled, although all of these temperatures are variable with the composition of the glass. Because of the high fluidity, the batch may be well mixed by stirring or by pouring back and forth between two crucibles.

The elements which I have found especially useful are those in the eighth series and especially lanthanum and tantalum, and these two in combination with other oxides, such as titanium, thorium, zirconium and tungsten, seem to be especially useful. The chemical composition of the glass resulting from the formulae hereinafter given cannot now be stated with certainty, but the advantages of using the ingredients given and the improved properties of glass are very pronounced, whatever may be the actual constitution of the glass. It is very possible that the noted disadvantages of certain of the oxides'may be partially or completely overcome. e It, has been found that tantalum oxide alone makes a very satisfactory glass, but it is to be noted, as hereinafterstated, the tantalum oxide which is commercially available is impure and generally contains columbium oxide and that the .glass referred to as satisfactory was made from tantalum :xide containing some columbium oxide. Examples of mixtures which have given good results are the following, parts being given by weight. It is to be understood that in each case the oxide is used unless otherwise specifically stated:

Eaiample Ar -Equal parts by weight of titanium and tantalum oxides Examples B O 'D. E F

51 60' so 11 as 1a 17 12 Examples I I K M 'P Q R Lanthanum-.. -Q 26.3 27.2 49.2 37.5 36 26.7 222 Tantalum; 2&3 27.2 23 29.2 -28 26.7 222 18.5 2% 16.7 16 26.7 222 220 918 16.6 20 19.9 33.4

where nD, n15, 116 and nG are the refractive indices of the D, F, C and G lines respectively:

I wish to point out, however, that, while I consider all the formulae given above to be included within the scope of my invention as broadly stated in this specification and covered in the claims appended hereto, certain of the formulae given are, so far as the specific combinations and proportions are concerned, the work of Leon W. Eberlin, in whose name applications covering them are being filed; and they are given here as illustrative of the scope of my invention.

Inasmuch as a number of the oxides, used in making my improved glasses, can be obtained in their pure form only with the greatest of difliculty, it may be well to mention that the tantalum oxide need not be completely free or columbium, and the small amount ofhafnium, which is usually present in small quantities in all commercial zirconium, does not appear to have any harmful efiect.

In general and particularly in formulae B to G inclusive, the lanthanum oxide may be replaced in whole or in part by yttrium oxide and the zirconium oxide may be replaced with thorium oxide, and the latter substitution is especially suggested in formula ;C.

As instances in some of the formulae, it may be desirable or necessary to add a glassifler or fluxing agent such as b'oric oxide or borax, or otherborates. It will be also understood that the batch compositions, given above, are not at all rigid and that various ingredients, such as small amounts of lithium or sodium oxide, may be used without departing from the invention. In some cases, it may be desirable to include the oxide of either rubidium or cesium, since these glasses niay be referred to roughly as being acid types of e ass.

Although a numberof the rare earths which are very expensive and dimcult to obtain have not been tested for their glass forming properties, all of the more readily obtainable elements of the even series in Groups III, IV, V and VI, of the periodic table having atomic weights greater than 47 have been tried and they have been found to color in the glass, this color is not necessarily dis' advantageous for all uses.

Although the preferred examples of these new glasses contain no silicate I consider as within the scope of my invention all glasses which, even though they may contain silicates and other compounds, contain a considerable proportion of the oxides above pointed out and have the characteristic properties attributable to these oxides, and two examples are given, which include a considerable proportion of silica. however, I do not propose to use silica to an extent approaching 25% of the total, and prefer it to be less than As is evident from the formulae and specification the oxides which I have found most useful are those of titanium, zirconium, lanthanum, tantalum, thorium and tungsten and to a less extent yttrium, columbium and hafnium, and the glasses having a high proportion of these have refrac tive and dispersive values greater than the curve x on the chart. The-properties of these glasses now seem to beof the greatest value for optical instruments. However, a small proportion of these materials, as in Examples N and 0, give glasses having new properties attributable to the presence of these materials, and all glasses, particularly non silicate glasses, having these oxides in suificient amounts and proportions to yield glasses having these distinguishing properties I consider as within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In general,

1. A transparent optical glass'having an index of refraction (nD) for the D-line greater than 1.65 and a dispersive index greater than both 385-200 nD and 99-4 nD, resulting fromfusion of a glass batch containing less than 10% silica and containing at least 20% by weight of oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, yttrium, zirconium, columbium, lanthanum, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten and thorium.

2. A non-silicate transparent optical glass having. an index of refraction (nD) for the D-line greater than 1.65 and a dispersive index greater than both 385200 12D and 99-4 nD resulting from fusion of a glass batch containing at least twenty percent by weight of oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, yttrium, zirconium, columbium, lanthanum, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten and thorium.

3. A non-silicate transparent optical glass having both an index of refraction (nD) for the D- percent by weight of oxides selected from the group-consisting of the following elements: titanium, yttrium, zirconium, columbium, lanthanum,

' hafnium, tantalum, tungsten and thorium.

4. A non-silicate transparent optical glass having both an index'of refraction (12D) for the D- line and a dispersive index greater than resulting from fusion of a glass batch containing at least twenty percent by weight of oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, yttrium, zirconium, columbium, lanthanum, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten and thorium.

5. A glass resulting from fusion of aglass batch containing the oxides of tantalum-and lanthanum to a total of at least 40%, and having an index of refraction greater than 1.70.

6. A non silicate glass resulting from fusion of a glass batch containing the oxides of tantalum and lanthanum to a total-of at least 40% of the total by weight.

7. A glass resulting from fusion of a glass batch containing the oxides of lanthanum, tantalum and thorium to an amount equal to at least 65% of the'total by weight.

8. A glass resulting from fusion of a glass batch containing the oxides of lanthanum, tantalum and thorium to an amount equal to at least 65% of the total by weight and also containing boric oxides.

9. A glass resulting from fusion of a batch containing at least twenty per cent of weight of lanthanum oxide.

10. A glass resulting from fusion of a batch containing at least twenty percent by weight -of tantalum oxide.

11. A glass batch containing at least fifty percent by weight of oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, zirconium, lanthanum, tantalum, tungsten and thorium, v

12. A ,glass batch containing at least twenty percent by weight of oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, zirconium, lanthanum, tantalum, tungsten and thorium and containing not over twenty flve percent of silica.

13. A glass batch containing at least forty percent by weight of the oxides of zirconium and lanthanum.

14. A method of manufacture of optical glasses having a refractive index greater than 1.65 which comprises fusing with suitable fluxes an oxide or oxides selected from the group consisting of the following elements: titanium, zirconium, lanthanum, tantalum, thorium, tungsten, yttrium, columbium and hafnium, the latter being present to a total amount equal to at least fifty percent by weight of the batch.

15. A method of manufacture of optical glasses having arefractive index greater than 1.65 which comprises fusing with suitable fluxes, and in the absence of silica, an oxide or oxides selected from the group consisting of the' following elements: titanium, zirconium, lanthanum, tantalum, thorium, tungsten, yttrium, columbium and hafnium, the latter being present to a total amount equal to at least fifty percent by weight of the batch.

- GEORGE W. MOREY. 

